There is an increasing demand for compact antennas designed for handset and wireless terminal applications. New wireless devices are required to operate at different frequency bands corresponding to various communication services, such as GSM, UMTS, GPS, Wi-Fi, WIMAX, etc.
Therefore, antennas for novel wireless terminals are required to be able to change the frequency at which they operate depending on the device communication service being activated. At the same time, it is desirable that the antenna elements be as small and lightweight as possible and that they satisfy the design requirements for antenna gain and efficiency.
In a multiband antenna for mobile handsets and wireless terminal applications, the following are required:                Compactness of antenna elements so that they fit in a limited volume inside the phone or wireless terminal, and        An ability to provide the frequency change across closely allocated bands as well as to provide multiband frequency operation for different wireless communication services.        
In the conventional technology, a patch antenna is known as a candidate for a wideband/multiband antenna for mobile handsets. Also, other types of conventional antennas are known, and many patent applications have been filed for these types of a wideband/multiband antennas. For the various types of conventional antennas, refer to non-patent document 1.